Those Who Serve
by ImagineerGirl 39
Summary: Vampires are monsters. They are cruel, sadistic creatures that will hurt anyone for their own benefit. And yes, I am scared of them.  Which is highly ironic due to my current employment. I am a servant, sworn to serve the vampire ruling families forever.


**Chapter 1: Against time**

The rain that pounded on the car was deafening.

Our car, a reliable Honda civic, zoomed across the wet pavement raising water particles in its wake.

My dad was driving; my mom and younger brothers asleep. Me? I was staring out the rain-spattered window wondering why on earth we were moving out of Seattle. Yes, we lived in Oregon, the rainiest state in the United States.

I actually liked it there, with a big high school, no one bothers to notice the nerd when there are so many students around. It isn't right though…to leave during the middle of the school year. Just a few more months and I would have been a junior. But no, we have to travel all the way across the country just because my dad gets a letter.

The letter had nothing to do with is job as an insurance consultant, but he freaked out anyway. I remember staying up late that night trying to listen to the whispered arguments.

"…_It's too soon….he said after her seventeenth birthday…we have to leave, it's too dangerous…but the deadline…doesn't matter, if we can get away far enough…we will be falling into the Atlantic Ocean, Robert there has to be another!...there is none Julia! We promised our first born child to those monsters…but for what? So that we can have enough to survive?..."_

There was a sudden crash and then there was darkness, as if I had fainted.

When my mom woke me up, she told me that we were traveling to our cousins in Maine, but in order to get there in time before my cousins leave for England, we had to drive across the country. I told her that an airplane would be faster, but she shook her head and told me to get ready because we were leaving in twenty minutes. Now here we are, driving to visit the cousins I never knew we had. It seemed unlikely that we could get to Maine in time since our "cousins" are supposed to leave in 3 days.

"Nope, definitely not long enough." I thought as we passed the Now Leaving Seattle sign.

I turned to my dad in the front seat, the previous conversation popping into my head and said "You know that at the rate we are going now, there is no way we will make it to Maine before they catch us"

I saw my dad flinch at the sound of my voice, "Maia, what do you mean by they?"

Looking into the dashboard mirror and seeing my dad looking at me oddly, I answered "Oh, you know…those people who attacked us last night."

I could see the alarm rise up in his eyes, even when he denied that anyone attacked us. So, I shrugged and turned back to my rain-spattered window just in time to see something dark flit its way through the trees.

After continuing to see it move through the forest, far too fast for it to be human, I spoke out loud, "I think we are being followed…" still staring at the dark trees.

My dad, in utter panic, shouted "What! Where?" waking up my mom and two little brothers, Jameson and Hayden.

I pointed, my finger pressing into the glass, "There! Running through the trees on the right side of the road."

I turned to look at my parents in the front, found their fearful looks quite alarming and narrowed my eyes. "It isn't the Shadowman right?" I asked, terrified of seeing my childhood nightmare come to life.

At my mother's denial, I sighed in relief.

Then my father said, "No Maia, it's something far worse…"

I looked at them confusingly before looking at my brothers, who had been thankfully quiet throughout the conversation thus far and who asked the question that had been racing through my mind, "Daddy? What could possibly be worse than the Shadowman?"

They too had witnessed my panic attacks and my sleepless nights after the all too vivid Shadow dreams.

I heard my dad press on the gas pedal harder, making the car go faster. I did not miss his wary gaze looking both at the road and at the forest that surrounded us. He did this before answering solemnly, "There are many other terrible creatures out there than the Shadowman. He is only the vassal of the creatures that haunt the night."

I shivered, images of "creatures that that haunt the night" pop into my head.

Ghosts, werewolves, demons, vampires…

"Vampires?" I whispered, too afraid of the consequences of saying it too loud.

_When I was younger, about 7 years old, I had a playmate named Lily. We looked oddly alike in hair color and height, but our personalities were incredibly different. She was always happy and energetic; a girl who could make anyone smile. Then one day, her light was extinguished. She had been brutally mauled to death by a stranger on her way home from school. The one injury that confused the police was the punctured holes on the side of her neck, as if a snake had bit her. Only my parents were smart enough to recognize a vampire attack and we moved to Seattle to get away from the danger. I have been terrified of vampires since then; for it was I who found Lily's body, mangled and discarded in the park behind our house. My light in the world was gone._

_After the incident, I dove into my school work at my new school and I didn't resurface. _

The flashback ending, I looked at my parents in the front. In a timid voice, I asked," Is it the vampires, mom?"

There was no response from either of my parents, for I found the answer standing in the road.

_It was dressed head-to –toe in black and its dark hair was kept in control by a black beanie. _

My dad had two choices: I could step on the brake to see what it wanted or he could accelerate, to run it over or swerve to avoid it. I saw my dad's eyes flicker to me and then back to the road in the rear-view mirror.

His decision made, he slammed on the gas pedal, hoping to continue his quest to saving his daughter's life over anything else.

As we got closer, the vampire's mouth twisted into a sneer, and with a wave of its hand, the car stopped a few feet in front of it.

I could now discern the vampire's features more clearly. Its skin, a sickly pale; its eyes like dark globes; and its height had to have been at least 6 feet. I was not attracted to this oddly beautiful creature, oh no, I was scared witless.

It frightened me further to see it walk toward us, its fingers gliding over the hood of the car and stopping next to my father's side window.

Throughout its movement, my father was sitting stiffly in the front seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly and his knuckles had turned white under the strain. My mother sat in the passenger seat, frozen in fear and panic, her fingers tightly knit in her lap and her body in a stiff, straight position. My younger brothers were quiet and still, looking from me to my parents as if unsure on what to do.

The vampire leaned down and knocked ever so politely on the driver's window.

" Robert," he said, "Time's up."

I could hear more than I could see my father trying to accelerate the car.

The vampire tilted its head slightly to look past my father and to look at me assessingly. It grinned coldly before turning back to my parents saying, "This is yours?"

It laughed slightly, "Why, I can see a bit of you in her, Robert. And, my goodness, she looks like the mirror image of Julia. Good job you two! This one will be popular on the block for sure."

Me?

Block?

What's going on?

I looked at my father through the rearview mirror. His face seemed strained, as if he was struggling to create an outburst of anger or to break down crying.

The vampire sighed impatiently, "Come now, Robert. You swore on your life and that of you family's. Don't make this any harder than it should."

As it said this, I saw other figures emerging from the trees around us. There had to have been at least 9 others and then, with my fear, came a realization.

I was to be taken.

If I didn't go freely, then my family would be hurt. I looked at my brothers beside me and I had to mover around a little to get my gift for them from my pocket. While my birthday is tomorrow, theirs is two days from now.

I smiled shyly at them before handing each one, one of my prized Pokémon cards from my collection. A level 90 Raikou EX with 500 HP and a level 90 Entei EX with 500 HP. They both looked up at me in shock.

My smile turned down as did my mood. "Happy early birthday, guys!"

I paused, trying to think of what else to say before I left. "Watch out for each other, okay?" I studied their identical faces for a moment longer trying to memorize their faces; satisfied with their simultaneous nods, I turned and opened my car door.

My dad's frozen spell broken, he turned around, shouting for me to get back in the car.

I ignored him and walked toward the vampire, my back stiff. The rain had not stopped and I shivered as the cold air embraced me. As I stopped in front of it, I said, "I will go with you. Just let them go; alive and well."

It looked at me up and down, assessing me, before smirking and with a wave of its hand, the other vampires disappeared.

It extended its hand, a silent sign for me to go to it.

I turned to my family and gave them a sad smile. I looked at their shocked and frightened faces before turning back around and putting my hand in the vampire's cold on.

My silent acceptance to do whatever it takes to keep my family alive.

**AN:**

**I hope you liked it! **

**It is a slow-moving since I don't get much of a chance to write these days, but please review. I would like to know how my writing can be improved and if the story should be continued. And of course if you have any questions just ask me.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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